/**
 * Copyright (c) 2004-2005, Regents of the University of California
 * All rights reserved.
 *
 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
 * are met:
 *
 * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
 * this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
 *
 * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
 * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
 * documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 *
 * Neither the name of the University of California, Los Angeles nor the
 * names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
 * derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
 *
 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
 * "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 * LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
 * A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
 * OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
 * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
 * LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
 * DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
 * THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
 * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
 * OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 */

package cck.help;

/**
 * The <code>HelpItem</code> interface represents an item that contains help information
 * for the user. For example, a help item might be a command line option, an option value,
 * or various other user-selectable things such as simulation types, compiler optimizations,
 * or input formats.
 *
 * @author Ben L. Titzer
 */
public interface HelpItem {
    /**
     * The <code>getHelp()</code> method returns a string that is suitable to being formatted into
     * a single paragraph. This string should contain a few sentences about what the option, action,
     * input format, etc represents and how to use it.
     *
     * @return a string representation of the help for this item
     */
    public String getHelp();

    /**
     * The <code>printHelp()</code> method prints a representation of the help to the console,
     * formatted appropriately according to the terminal size.
     */
    public void printHelp();

}
